1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for producing a wire of amorphous metal or crystalline metal or an alloy of amorphous metal or crystalline metal by rapidly cooling and solidifying the metal or alloy melt on the cooling substrate of a rotary chill block or wheel. The metal and alloy are hereinafter collectively referred to as a metal.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, various kinds of melt spinning methods for continuously producing a wire from molten metal have been disclosed. According to one of the representative metal spinning methods, the melt is ejected through the thin, round orifice of a nozzle and impinges upon the surface of a moving cooling substrate. The so-produced wire has a flat cross section, and, hence, the width is greater than the thickness, this being undesirable for certain applications of the wire.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 57-134248 discloses a method of producing a metal wire having a round cross section by flowing molten metal between grooved rolls. This method, however, involves several problems in practice, e.g., accurate guidance of the melt to the grooves and the life of the grooved rolls.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 57-134248 discloses a method of producing a round wire by ejecting a melt into a stream of water. This method, however, involves such problems as difficulty in continuous withdrawal of the wire, which is provided with a round shape, from the water and operational trouble due to the use of water.
The melt-pulling-out method (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 50-51926) and the pendant-drop method (BULLETIN OF THE JAPAN INSTITUTE OF METALS, Vol. 20 (1981), No. 3, page 176) have been proposed for producing a round wire but are disadvantageous because of a low cooling rate. In addition, the shape of the product produced by means of these methods is yet to be improved.